


The Roommate Agreement

by knuffled (bigscary)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth Chase - Freeform, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Percabeth smut, Percy/Annabeth - Freeform, Shameless Smut, Smut, percy jackson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-03-29 07:04:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3886852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigscary/pseuds/knuffled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Percy and Annabeth rent an apartment together, Annabeth makes a proposition that makes both their lives a lot more exciting. Slow Burn Friends With Benefits AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Blessing In Disguise

Percy ran into the apartment lobby and brushed the rain out of his hair. He’d forgotten to bring his umbrella, but he’d been lucky that he was wearing a windbreaker so that his clothes didn’t get completely soaked. There was a blonde girl waiting in the middle of the lobby, constantly looking between her wrist watch and the door while giving off little exasperated sighs. When she saw him, her eyes narrowed dangerously, and Percy found himself grinning despite himself as he walked over to her.

“You must be Annabeth,” he said, offering his hand to her. “I’m Percy, it’s good to meet you.”

“You’re late,” she sniffed, lightly touching his hand for a second instead of shaking it.

Percy brushed his hair with his hand once more to get rid of the excess water as he spoke. “Yeah, sorry about that. It was really coming down out there. Cats and dogs - the whole nine yards,” he explained.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Do you have the lease with you?” she asked.

After fishing around in his jacket pocket he produced it and was happy to see that it wasn’t the least bit damp. He gave it Annabeth and she quickly signed it before turning it in to the receptionist up front. A few minutes later, they were finally given the keys for their room. The receptionist had asked them, like everybody else, if they were boyfriend and girlfriend. When they said that they weren’t that naturally elicited strange looks, but they were both used to that.

Being the absentminded person that he was, Percy had forgot to apply for university housing in time for the deadline, leaving him to scramble for housing. All of his friends were staying in the dorms, so he had to post on Facebook groups to try to find someone that he could rent an apartment with. The only person that had replied had been a certain Annabeth Chase. Rooming with a girl hadn’t really crossed his mind, and he didn’t jump on the offer right away, but after no one else bothered to reply, he decided he didn’t have any other options.

“So how did you end up getting stranded for housing? You seem like the kind of person that doesn’t mess things up like that,” Percy said as they rode the elevator up to the fourth floor.

Annabeth shot him a look. “I was going to live with my boyfriend, but we broke up a few weeks ago. By then, I didn’t have a shot at getting university housing, and I saw your ad,” she said.

“Huh, sorry to hear about that,” Percy said, and Annabeth didn’t respond.

It took a while but they started to transfer all their belongings into the apartment. Getting the furniture into the dinky apartment was the most difficult part. Annabeth had promptly stolen the only bedroom before he had a chance, so Percy was left with the living room. He just used the futon that he’d bought to sleep on since it also served as a sofa.

Annabeth had given him a piece of paper the first day that they’d officially been moved in. Percy squinted as he struggled to make out the small print.

“What’s this?” he asked her.

“A roommate agreement,” Annabeth said.

He looked up at her with furrowed brows. “A what?” he asked.

Annabeth sighed and rolled her eyes, something that Percy quickly realized was something of a habit of hers. “Didn’t your RA make you do this last year? Basically you just work out what’s allowed and what isn’t allowed when you’re living together. It makes your wants known to everyone so that you don’t have to deal with stuff that annoys you or makes you uncomfortable,” she explained.

“Oh,” Percy said, looking back at the paper.

She pointed to a line. “See here, I state that I don’t want us to go for more than a week without emptying the trash or cleaning the toilets,” she said.

“You’re kind of a clean freak, huh,” Percy muttered to himself, but apparently it wasn’t quiet enough.

“Excuse me,” Annabeth snapped. “I’m sorry that I don’t want to live in a place that smells like shit. This isn’t going to be like a guys locker room.”

Percy held his hands up in protest. “Whoa, okay, sorry my bad. Sure we can throw out the trash and clean and stuff,” he said.

“As long as you aren’t a slob, we’ll be fine,” Annabeth said. “You can let me know what your demands are on the other side, and I’ll sign after reading it over.”

Percy sat down on his futon and read as Annabeth grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down at her desk next to the window to work on her laptop. It took him about an hour and occasional questions to finish, but he was about to finish when he saw the last point.

“Annabeth?”

“Hmm?”

“What’s this?” Percy asked, pointing to the last line.

Annabeth walked over and looked at the paper. “Oh, yeah, I don’t want to hear you fucking someone while I’m still here, so no guests while I’m here,” she said. 

“Am I allowed to ask you to leave if I’m bringing someone over?” Percy asked.

“If I’m already here, then no, I’m not leaving just so you can fuck,” Annabeth said.

Percy frowned. “That’s unfair,” he said.

“Too bad,” Annabeth shrugged. “Life’s unfair.”

Percy groaned — it was going to be a long year.

:::

“I’m home!” Percy yelled as he took his shoes off. He didn’t hear a response, but that was normal. He decided to go take a shower after the long day that he’d had. Coach had been forcing him to do extra practice, and he’d had to spend a lot of time holed up in the lab because his lab partner was squeamish and refused to dissect the human eye that they’d received.

After he finished, he wrapped a towel around his waist and began to walk past Annabeth’s room which was on the way to the living room when she opened the door. She was wearing a shirt that hung on one shoulder and only a pair of panties underneath that. It took Percy all of five seconds to realize that Annabeth was totally drunk. Her face was red and she swayed on her feet unsteadily as she looked at him with a glazed expression.

“Whoa,” she said, a stupid smile crossing her face.

“What?” Percy asked, narrowing his eyes.

“You’re all muscly and stuff!” Annabeth said, throwing her hands up in the air and subsequently wobbling in place.

“Are you ogling me, Chase?” Percy teased.

“Give me a break,” Annabeth huffed, her face turning even redder with embarrassment. “I haven’t been fucked in so long.”

Now it was Percy’s turn to blush. “You sure don’t really have a filter do you?” he muttered to himself.

“What? It’s not my fault when you’re parading shirtless looking like that,” Annabeth protested. “Besides, I’m sure you can relate. It doesn’t look like you’re getting any either since you haven’t brought anyone back since we started living together.”

“Oh,” Percy said, leaning against her doorway. “How do you know that I don’t have a girlfriend that I see outside of here?”

“Because,” Annabeth said. “I just do.”

When he remained silent, Annabeth grinned and said, “I’m right, aren’t I?”

Percy’d been so bogged down with school and swimming that he hadn’t had time for a girlfriend. The last girl he’d dated had been a girl named Rachel on his floor last year as a freshman. They’d broken up after Percy realized that he didn’t have the time to devote to a girlfriend and all the commitments that came with it.

“Can we please talk about this after I get dressed,” Percy said, making to leave when Annabeth stopped him.

“Wait! Hold on for a second! I have a proposition,” she said, slurring her words together.

“What is it?” Percy asked, rolling his eyes, a habit he’d picked up from her.

“Well, the way I see it, I’m really horny, and I haven’t had sex in ages, and you aren’t with someone so you aren’t getting any either, so why don’t we come to some sort of arrangement?” she said, leaning towards him. 

Percy felt himself having to swallow a lump in his throat as he forced himself not to look down and stare down her shirt. “W-What?” he stuttered, his voice hoarse.

Annabeth shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m just saying, it would be mutually beneficial if we helped each other out, you know?” she said.

“Helped each other how?” Percy asked, just to make sure he wasn’t understanding Annabeth wrong.

“Fucking Christ, do I have to spell this out for you?” Annabeth growled. “You and me should have a no strings attached, friends with benefits relationship. That way we can both have sex whenever we want, and it’ll benefit the both of us. I know you think I’m hot; don’t think I haven’t noticed the way that you look at me when I run to the fridge for leftovers in my underwear.”

“Okay, first of all, any straight guy would look at a girl running anywhere in her underwear, and second, you’re totally drunk right now and definitely not thinking clearly,” he said, trying to walk past her again when she blocked his path again.

“Look, I thought you were kinda hot the first time I saw you and that was before I saw you shirtless. I can assure you even if I wasn’t drunk I’d still think this was a good idea,” she argued.

Percy felt blood rushing to his face. “Y-You thought I was hot?” he stuttered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes before pulling Percy down for a kiss. It was a kiss unlike anything Percy had ever had. He’d been with quite a couple girls before given that he was a star athlete and he wasn’t exactly bad looking, but he’d never been with a girl that took charge like Annabeth. It was so unexpected given how severe and prim she was all the time.

“Yeah, dumbass, I think you’re hot,” she murmured against his lips after she broke away.

He swallowed and stared at her, and even though she smelled like cheap beer, he was still unbelievably turned on. “So, um, how do we do this?” he asked, licking his lips.

With a smile, Annabeth pushed him into her room and onto her bed before straddling his lap and kissing him again. Kissing Annabeth was like drinking whiskey, it burned and blurred his thinking while shooting sparks throughout his entire body. He felt invincible. It didn’t take long for his instinct to push aside his thoughts that this was Annabeth he was kissing and about to sleep with. He slipped her shirt off and swallowed when he discovered that she wasn’t wearing bra.

“Bras are fucking uncomfortable, don’t judge,” Annabeth huffed.

“Believe me, judging is the last thing on my mind right now,” Percy said.

Annabeth tore the towel off his waist and took his rapidly hardening length in her hands, giving him a few quick strokes. Percy groaned and Annabeth swallowed his gasps with a laugh and a kiss. He could feel her smiling against his lips as she started using slower, teasing strokes that made every cell in his body smolder.

Percy started to slip off her panties, and he put a finger inside her as revenge, grinning as she bucked into him. He started to tease her like she’d been teasing him, and she began to stroke him more earnestly. Annabeth leaned into him and gave him a sloppy kiss before whispering, “I have condoms in my bedside table.”

He stopped fingering her and grabbed a long string of condom packets before tearing one off. Annabeth took the packet from his hands and expertly slipped it onto his length which left him wondering just how experienced she really was. Without any pomp or circumstance, she straddled him and sank down onto his length.

They both groaned with satisfaction, and Percy found himself worrying that he wouldn’t last long. Annabeth was so tight around him that finishing early was going to be a serious worry. Knowing Annabeth, he only had one shot to impress her, and she’d give him shit if he accidentally came too soon. He decided his best course of action was to go slow so that he’d last longer, so he began to move with slow, shallow movements.

Annabeth frowned from beneath him. “I'm not your girlfriend, don't make love to me, fuck me!” she said before she flipped him over and rode him.

It was all Percy could do to hold onto her hips as she set a rapid pace, much faster than any other girl that he’d ever been with, and bounced on top of him. A sheen of sweat began to cover the both of them as Annabeth rode him wildly, her hands roaming everywhere, lingering on his shoulder muscles and his abdomen.

It took Percy a little while but he started to tentatively explore Annabeth’s body as well. He started from her stomach and worked his way up, lingering on her breasts, cupping them in his hands. They were small C’s from what he guessed, but they were perfect to him. Annabeth brushed her hair out of her face so she could look at him. She was making delicious mewls of pleasure that were driving him absolutely crazy.

Something surged inside him, and Percy flipped Annabeth over and positioned himself behind her before driving back into her.

“Fuck,” Annabeth keened. “I was wondering when you’d get the balls to take charge.”

“Shut up,” Percy growled, plowing into her with reckless abandon. His hips bounced off her ass, and he took the time to appreciate that Annabeth’s ass was fantastic.

“Percy,” Annabeth panted. “I’m almost there. Please don’t—hmmg—don’t stop.”

Ever the gentleman, Percy plowed into her even harder. He must have hit her G spot or something because Annabeth shuddered and let loose a wail that threatened to undo him.

“Fuck, right there!” she screamed.

He came just as she did, and he swore that he went blind for a second as white, hot pleasure coursed through him and made every atom in his body sing. Percy rolled over and laid on his back to avoid falling on top of Annabeth who’d gone totally limp as she lay down on her top of her mattress.

“Wow,” Percy said, struggling to catch his breath.

“Not bad, Jackson,” Annabeth gasped. “Maybe something good will come of this living arrangement yet.”

“We get to do this again?” Percy asked, unable to keep the wonder out of his voice. He’d just had the best sex he’d ever had, and the realization that this wasn’t a one time thing was only just starting to hit him.

Annabeth turned to grin at him, propping herself up on her elbows. “Yeah, dumbass, we’re definitely doing this again. I’m still horny,” she said, grabbing another condom packet as Percy held his breath.

“I hope you’re ready for round two,” Annabeth grinned as she rolled it over his length again. Percy thought it would have been impossible to get hard again after a performance like that, but he was amazed to find that when Annabeth rolled the condom over him that he was as hard as he was before they’d fucked.

“Fuck,” he groaned as Annabeth sank down on him again. Maybe Annabeth was right — their strange living situation might have been a blessing in disguise after all.


	2. The Shower Scene

It was Annabeth’s idea, of course. Percy wasn’t one to think of something that genius. It was definitely an arrangement borne from necessity given that the pair of them were pretty busy. As an obsessive architecture major, Annabeth often spent all her time doing work. Percy had to juggle swim practice and trying to be a biology major at the same time. As a result, even though they’d decided to embark on a no-strings-attached, friends with benefits relationship, they didn’t have the time to have sex like they initially thought they would. That is until one day, Annabeth came up with a remarkable idea.

The day started out fairly normal. Percy woke up pretty early, half-zombie, half-human, before brushing his teeth and going on his daily run. When he got back, he walked into the bathroom, stripped, and started to take a shower. Annabeth had been bogged down with a massive architecture project so he hadn’t seen her for the past three days. Idly, he wondered if he should jack off in the shower to relieve the pent up sexual frustration he was feeling.

That was when the door opened, and a naked Annabeth quickly slipped into the shower with him before he could realize what was happening.

“What the—!” Percy began.

“Shut up,” Annabeth said, pulling him down for a searing kiss. “You have five minutes to make me come before I have to get ready to go to class. Think you can manage that, huh, Seaweed Brain?”

With a growl, Percy hoisted Annabeth against the shower wall and thrust into her core. Having standing, shower sex was definitely new, and it took him a little while to adjust but they soon found a rhythm that worked.

“Wait, I’m not wearing a condom,” Percy gasped.

Annabeth moaned as he continued to thrust into her. “Don’t worry about it—ungh—I’m on the pill now.”

The cold water against her skin made her nipples harden, and Percy began to tug on them, shooting sparks throughout her body. He slides in and out of her as quickly as he can manage, and Annabeth realizes that he’s strangely more brutal when he’s in the shower. It makes sense, she supposes, considering that he’s a swimmer and all. She can feel an orgasm rushing towards her, and she doesn’t warn him as she comes hard, clenching around his cock.

Percy continues to work through her orgasm, mindlessly seeking his own pleasure, something that turns Annabeth on impossibly more. Percy has a tendency to be pretty altruistic in bed, which is rare and amazing, but sometimes Annabeth wishes he’d just use her for his own pleasure like other boys his age would. Annabeth’s almost bent over at this point, her palms pressed against the glass of the shower door as Percy drills into her. A second bone-rattling orgasm looms on the horizon, and she’s simultaneously impressed and offended about Percy’s stamina. Obviously, she wasn’t working hard enough if he hadn’t come already, but she decides to be selfish given how imminent her next orgasm is.

When she comes for the second time, she almost falls down, unable to support herself any further. She groans with disappointment as Percy slips out of her still hard.

“You’re something, Chase,” Percy pants as he leans against the shower.

Annabeth turns around and licks her lips as she notices how hard he is. Stroking him a couple times, she takes him into her mouth without warning. Her tongue swirls around the head of his cock and he groans, trying to stabilize himself by holding the shower wall. Annabeth wants to repay him for the two amazing orgasms he’d given her, so she takes a breath and taking his entire length into her throat, swallowing and drawing out a long delicious groan.

“Fucking fuck shit Annabeth god,” Percy babbles incoherently. It’s the first time she’s ever taken him in her mouth, but judging by how effortlessly she’s deep-throating him, Percy’s reminded that Annabeth is a secret sex goddess or something.

His hands tangle into her wet curls as he guides her along his length, urging her to go faster. Annabeth takes the hint and picks up the pace, sucking in her cheeks to create a vacuum and even greater suction. She can tell that Percy’s close so she takes him out of her mouth long enough to say, “You can come in my mouth, just give me warning.”

Percy nods and closes his eyes as she swallows him again. Annabeth takes one final plunge and swallows repetitively.

“Annabeth,” he stammers. She looks up at him and it’s the desire, the lust, in her eyes that finally does him in. The orgasm hits Percy like a freight train and he comes harder than he ever has before. Annabeth swallows every drop and waits until he’s done before slipping him out of her mouth and giving the tip a playful kiss. 

Percy looks down at her, her wet golden blonde hair plastered to her forehead. Annabeth almost leans into his hands as he tucks a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ears. When they both realize what happens, they start to blush. Such an intimate gesture after wanton sex feels really out of place, and Annabeth stands up, her face flushed.

“Uh, from now on, we can just hop together in the shower before classes. It’s the easiest way to get time together given our schedules, and it’ll hopefully cut down the water bill too,” she mutters.

“Yeah, um, that’s a good idea,” Percy says, scratching the back of his head, feeling incredibly awkward. Annabeth gives him a small smile before stepping out of the shower, grabbing her towel off the counter, and closing the door behind her.

Inside his head, Percy cursed himself for moving her hair out of the way. It was way too intimate a gesture given the nature of their relationship, but it had happened without him thinking. He didn’t want to ruin whatever it was that they had together. A relationship like this was a dream, and he didn’t want to jeopardize that by being corny and romantic. After a few more silent seconds, he turned off the cold water and got ready himself, unable to shake the feeling that there was something more to the way he felt about Annabeth than met the eye.”


	3. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is weird so yeah fair warning.

The apartment door burst open, and Annabeth stormed inside with her fists clenched. Percy was following her, possibly even angrier than she was. They both found themselves yelling at each other from opposite sides of the dining table in the kitchen.

“You don’t fucking own me!” Annabeth shouted.

“That’s not what I mean. I’m just saying, seeing you giving that guy a tongue bath at the party was a complete bitch move,” Percy said.

“What does it matter to you? It’s not like we’re together or anything!” Annabeth said.

At this, Percy pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. It wasn’t like he was floored or anything. The agreement after all was that they’d just be having casual, no-strings attached sex. The whole point was that it was a temporary solution while they looked for people that they actually liked. Besides, it wasn’t like Annabeth had slept with the guy or something, and even if she had, it wasn’t any of his business.

“If you’re going to be a control freak about this maybe we should stop this whole arrangement,” Annabeth seethed.

Percy managed a weak smile. “No, it’s fine. It’s not my business what you do with other people,” he said.

Annabeth’s eyes softened slightly before hardening again. She started to walk towards her room before she stopped in front of the door. “Don’t ruin this for me, Percy,” she said over her shoulder.

She slipped inside the room before he could say anything, not like he had anything to say anyways. He stood there in the kitchen for a little while longer, feeling like a total dumbass, before he sighed and made his way to his bedroom too.

_

Annabeth sighed as she opened the door to the apartment and she dropped her messenger bag next to the closet. She shook the water out of her hair before she slipped off her shoes and rain jacket to go into the kitchen to make herself some dinner. When she walked in however, she froze at the sight of a red haired girl sitting at the dining table wearing one of Percy’s button downs which looked two sizes to big on her and, Annabeth assumed, nothing else underneath.

“Hello?” Annabeth said.

The girl looked up from her beer and gave her a bright smile. “Oh, hi! You must be Annabeth, Percy’s roommate. I’m Rachel,” she said.

Annabeth didn’t say anything. She didn’t notice her knuckles had turned white until she felt a little blood from where her nails had gouged the skin in her palm. In all her life, Annabeth had never been so angry or hated another human being as much as she hated in that moment, and she absolutely didn’t know why.

She decided that she’d ignore the other girl and make herself some dinner and calm down. She must’ve been clenching her jaw or something because her face started to hurt as she tried to get the decade old gasket to start lighting up. When it didn’t, she started screaming in her head a thousand profanities all at once, most of them directed at Rachel, as if the redhead were somehow responsible for the fact that her stove refused to work.

“She better not be staying here overnight or so help me,” Annabeth fumed internally.

Percy’s bedroom door opened and he calm out wearing his usual pajamas. Annabeth’s anger and hate towards Rachel disappeared so quickly, it was kind of scary. Instead, she invested every atom in her being to hating Percy.

Before she could say anything, Rachel stood up and said, “Well, I’d better get going! Thanks for everything, Percy. I’ll see you in class tomorrow!”

As if to add insult to injury, Rachel gave Percy a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing into his room and leaving wearing her old clothes. For a while, Annabeth stood there, just unable to move because she needed her entire body to hate Percy. Percy yawned and scratched the back of his neck before going to the fridge.

“You’re fucking despicable,” Annabeth spat.

Percy looked up from the fridge. “Huh?” he said.

“That girl—”

“You mean Rachel?” he interrupted.

Annabeth felt a solitary vein bulge in her forehead. “Whatever the fuck her name is, I don’t care. Why was she here?” she demanded.

Percy frowned at her. “What I can’t bring friends over now?” he asked.

“Not if you’re going to fuck her, no!” Annabeth shouted.

His eyes widened with understanding of the situation, and it looked like he was going to say something before a sly smile slid across his face. “Well, technically the roommate agreement said I could have guests of the feminine variety over as long as you weren’t here, so” he drawled.

Annabeth was floored. She opened her mouth to say something, but her sheer anger just made it impossible for her to speak. Even if she could, she had absolutely nothing to say. After all, he was right about that. The sound of the rain outside colliding with the kitchen window filled in for the lull in their conversation.

“Well, if that’s it, I’m gonna grab a beer and head back to my room,” he said, grabbing a bottle in his hand and walking back.

“Like hell you are,” Annabeth mumbled under her breath.

“Night!” Percy said as he closed the door behind him.

As she made dinner, Annabeth kept muttering dark curses aimed at him under her breath, but she was also troubled by the fact that she was so mad. She didn’t understand why she was mad that he’d brought a girl over. It wasn’t like they were dating or anything, but it just felt wrong. Her mind turned to a few before when they’d fucked in the shower, and he’d intimately brushed her hair out of her face. As it did then, she felt her skin heat up and become prickly.

She sat at the dinner table for a while, wrestling with this new emotion as her food sat on a plate in front of her. The more she thought about it the angrier she got. She liked Percy. At least, a little, enough to feel jealous. Why she liked a grade A moron like him was beyond her, but now that she knew she felt embarrassed and furious at the same time.

Unable to take it anymore, she stood up, food be damned, and marched over to his room. The door blasted open as Percy, who was laying on his bed, looked up from his laptop. He took his headphones out.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Actually yeah,” Annabeth spat. “Stop being such a dick.”

He smiled again, and Annabeth felt like she was going to explode. “Duly noted,” he said. “Now can I go back to my Netflix or are you just gonna stand there?”

She’d already started walking over to him as he started talking. One his desk chair, she grabbed one of his ties in one hand and pushed his laptop off of him as she straddled him. Annabeth grabbed Percy by his shirt collar and kissed him hard. She could sense his surprise, but was glad that he started to respond.

Before he could make sense of what was going on, Annabeth tied his hands against the hand railing with his tie. He looked up at her with something akin to awe. Annabeth started to unbutton his jeans and slip them and his boxers down to his ankles before working on her own pants.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I’m punishing you. Now shut up,” she said as she shimmied out her panties. She relished in the way his eyes darkened when shoved them in his mouth.

“Hey!” he said.

“You’re not good at following instructions, are you? I told you to shut up,” Annabeth hissed, her legs bracketing his hips.

She sank down on him and they both groaned with satisfaction. She sat a hard and fast pace, faster than they’ve ever gone and before. There was something raw and animalistic in just how hard they were fucking each other. Annabeth made a point of sucking hickeys all along his neck, marking him as her own, and enjoying the muffled groans she was getting out of him.

Being tied down made Percy a lot more submissive, Annabeth quickly learned. She had absolute control over the pace and consequently him, and there was nothing he could do. At times, he struggled against the tie but not to break free, just reacting to her movements on top of him. A searing heat which had formed in the pit of her stomach since she’d seen Rachel was starting to spread throughout her entire body. She could feel an orgasm of titanic proportions coming on.

“You don’t come until I say so, got it?” Annabeth gasped.

Percy nodded furiously, and Annabeth found herself getting impossibly more turned on. There was something about all this control that was getting her worked up in the best way. She’d never ridden anyone this fast in her life, and when she came it was something like experiencing rapture. When she finally came back down, almost completely boneless, she could see how dark Percy’s eyes were and how desperate he was to come.

When she started gyrating her hips again in painfully slow hypnotic circles, Percy’s eyes widened incredulously.

“You wanna come?” she teased him, kissing up the column of his neck.

“Mmg,” Percy groaned, shaking his head.

Annabeth laughed and said, “Nope, not yet. You still haven’t been punished.”

The pace she set was torturous for her and she’d already come once. She couldn’t imagine how one edge Percy must’ve been. Still, she could feel another orgasm looming in the distance. It was rare for her to come so quickly in rapid succession. She made a mental note to do this with Percy again in the future.

Slowly but surely, her pace started to quicken. The relief on Percy’s face as she gradually rode him faster made Annabeth smile. She still had her shirt on, she realized.

“Are you almost there?” she asked him.

Percy looked at her with a look of complete disbelief. As if to say, you have got to be kidding me. By then, Annabeth and reached their pace from before, and she could feel his self control slipping. He was going to come any second, but she was so close to her second, if only he could wait for a few more moments.

“Hold it, I’m gonna come again,” Annabeth groaned.

Percy’s jaw clenched as he used every ounce of self control he had to keep from exploding. He looked up at her with pleading eyes, begging her to let him come. As Annabeth her orgasm bearing down on her, she looked eyes with him and nodded.

“Come for me,” she said.

He shook underneath her as he came, and she got hers only seconds after. When they both finally came back down, Annabeth took her makeshift gag out of his mouth and kissed him sweetly, completely contrasting with how brutally they’d fucked earlier. She undid the tie as he gaped up at her, panting as he struggled to gain his breath.

“Sweet hellhounds in a hand basket, what the fuck was that?” he asked.

Annabeth slid off his length and laid down next to him, spent. “That’ll teach you to bring another girl here,” she said.

“This was all about Rachel?” Percy asked, his eyes bulging.

Annabeth didn’t grace him with a response, but she couldn’t help the giant smile that was breaking across her face. Percy growled next to her.

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that, Chase?”

“I’ve been told,” she said.

“She and I never slept with each other. We were walking back from class when she got wet and her place is too far to walk to in the rain, so I offered to let her stay here until it let up somewhat. She’d just borrowed my shirt until her clothes dried off,” he said.

“What?” Annabeth said, her eyes widening.

“You were jealous!” Percy said.

Annabeth turned away so he couldn’t see how red her face was getting. “Maybe,” she said.

Percy pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, and Annabeth shivered not unpleasantly. “You gagged me with your panties,” he said.

“I have no idea what came over me,” Annabeth confessed, trying not to laugh.

“If I knew you were some sort of BDSM dominatrix I would’ve roomed with someone else,” he said.

“Shut up, you loved it,” she said.

Percy sighed. “Pretty sure I’m going to hell for this, but yeah, that was really hot.”

Annabeth couldn’t help but smile.

“Jealousy is an ugly, but really fucking sexy, color on you, Annabeth,” Percy said.

“What a charmer,” she deadpanned.

Percy laughed to himself, and she could feel from vibrations through his chest. “You should relax, you’re the only girl in my life,” he said.

Annabeth didn’t know what to say to that, so she said what she felt. “Good.”


	4. Swim Meet

The bleachers were overflowing when Annabeth finally arrived at the swim meet. She was hoping she wouldn’t be late and end up missing Percy’s race. He’d casually invited her to come to one of his meets, and Annabeth decided it wasn’t going to do any harm to show up. Still, now that she was here, it seemed like a very couple-ish thing to do, but she was already here so she might as well stay.

“PERCY WE LOVE YOU!!”

Annabeth frowned and turned to see a group of girls jumping and cheering, holding signs even for Percy. He must have been some sort of celebrity athlete or something. Come to think of it, Annabeth only knew that he swam, not if he was any good at it. The teams weren’t even out yet, she didn’t know why they were cheering for him already. It was kind of annoying, Annabeth realized. Maybe it was a mistake to come.

Then the swimmers began to stream into the pool area from the locker rooms, and Annabeth decided maybe it wasn’t a mistake to come. All the swimmers were toned and half-naked, so it wasn’t even like she was ogling them. Annabeth was totally fine if she got to see some shirtless guys with lots of lean muscle.

The girls started to go crazy again, and Annabeth assumed that Percy’d finally shown up, and she looked around for him. When she saw him, Annabeth couldn’t help the pathetic noise that escaped from the back of her throat. He was wearing a swim suit that hugged his legs and looked like longer compression shorts more than anything else, and he was, more importantly, naked from the waist up. It wasn’t like Annabeth hadn’t seen him naked before, but somehow seeing him like this for a sports event made him look so much hotter. He was as lean as all the other swimmers, but his back and abdominal muscles had much more definition than almost all of them. His speedos also didn’t leave a whole lot to imagination if she looked hard enough.

Increased screams brought Annabeth out of her blatant ogling, and she suddenly realized that Percy was totally on display for all the girls there. If she could see that his speedos weren’t doing a whole lot of keeping things a mystery, so to say, then it was obvious that the other girls would be able to see it too. She frowned and looked at them again and, to her dismay, noticed how a lot of the girls seemed to be staring holes into his swim suit. It was a little perverse, she supposed, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t guilty of it either. Either way, Annabeth felt more than a little upset that they were basically objectifying him and viewing him like a slab of meat more so than a person.

Percy finished his stretches and looked up at the stands, quickly glancing over all the people sitting in the bleachers until his eyes came to rest on her. A huge, goofy smile broke out across his face, and he waved at her. Annabeth found herself waving back even though she didn’t consciously want to. There was something about his enthusiasm and happiness to see her that made her do it, she supposed.

“Annabeth!” he said, still waving his hands.

She couldn’t help the smile that broke out across her lips. “This better not be a waste of time, so you better win, dumbass,” she said.

His entire body shook with quiet laughter as he pressed his hand against his mouth to keep the sound from escaping. It looked like he was going to say something when his coach started yelling at him to stop fooling around. He gave her one last look and smile before he warmed up with the rest of his team members.

“Who’s she? Is that his girlfriend? Percy’s not single?” — these were all things that Annabeth heard from Percy’s cheerleading squad, and she couldn’t help but smile. At least now they’d be quiet.

Seeing Percy swim was something of a religious experience, Annabeth decided. There was something that was oddly beautiful about the way that he seemed to cut through the water like he was dancing with it. Even though all the other swimmers were experienced too, they didn’t seem as in tune with the water as he did. They were just in the water, but Percy seemed like he was apart of the water. Sure, it was cheesy, but it’s just what it looked like.

On a secondary note, it was also one of the few moments where she could truly appreciate Percy’s entire back side of his body. She’d never really seen him from the back even when they were sleeping together at home. Now, she had to admit, Percy had a terrific ass. On top of that, his back muscles were god tier or something because it looked like it was sculpted or something.

He ended up winning first place for the 100 meter freestyle, and Annabeth actually cheered him on even though she wasn’t the kind of person that cheered for people really. Maybe she was just caught up in the moment. She waited for him to come out of the locker room after the meet, and when he did finally come out, he grinned at her.

“Did ya have fun? Percy asked.

Annabeth shrugged, struggling to suppress a smile, as they walked out onto the street. “It was okay. You should go to the gym more though, you were easily the least physically impressive out all the swimmers,” she said.

Percy gave her an upturned eyebrow. “Is that so?” he asked.

“Yeah, do you even lift, bro?”

At this, Percy couldn’t help laughing, and Annabeth found herself laughing along with him. Maybe this wasn’t so bad. Being with Percy, she meant. Sure, sometimes he royally pissed her off, but he was better than most guys she’d met. Maybe they could revise their arrangement. After all, they were both still single. It was tempting to think about.

“What’re you thinking about?” he asked, giving her a sidelong glance.

“Oh, nothing. Are you aware that you’re getting ogled by a group of girls at your swim meets?” she asked.

“Ogled?” he asked, smirking.

“Yeah, they were undressing you with their eyes, not that your speedos leave much to imagine, you know,” Annabeth said.

Percy raised his eyebrows and bit back a laugh. “Were you staring at my junk through my trunks, Annabeth? Sounds like you were the one doing all the ogling,” he said.

Her face turned uncomfortably hot and prickly as blood rushed to her cheeks. “I was not! I just looked over at them, and a lot of them were looking and I kind of just looked too to see what all the commotion was about,” she sputtered.

“Sounds like you’re jealous,” Percy crowed.

“Jealous? Fuck off, Seaweed Brain. I just thought it was disrespectful to objectify you like that, but I guess you don’t care about that, do you?” Annabeth said, her tone lacking any bite.

Percy just laughed. “I’m just joking, and I appreciate your concern. I guess I’ll have to go buy new swim trunks then,” he said with a sigh.

“No!” Annabeth blurted.

When Percy looked at her with a barely constrained smirk, Annabeth wished the ground would swallow her whole. “You’re hot in your swim suit, okay? Sue me,” she grumbled.

“Wow, if I’m not mistaken, that’s the first time you’ve paid me a compliment, but it’s good to know you only like me for my body.”

“Eat shit and die, asshole,” Annabeth mumbled.

Percy laughed and threw an arm carelessly around her shoulder, pulling her in close, and Annabeth felt a spark shoot through her as her arm bumped against his chest. He pressed a quick kiss on her hair, and Annabeth felt her face get impossibly hotter.

“Thanks for coming today,” he said. “It really meant a lot.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Annabeth said, trying to play it off. “I had fun, I guess,” she added begrudgingly.

“I’m glad,” Percy said.

Annabeth just hummed in response. His arm was still around her shoulder. It was so easy, so easy to just go along with it, so she did. She would never admit it, but this kind of thing felt nice. She’d let this slide, just this once, she decided. It was okay if they acted coupley for a day. Her last thought before they walked into the apartment lobby was that she could definitely get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated if you enjoyed the chapter!


	5. Home

The taxi ride back from the airport was excruciating for Annabeth. She, however, pointedly ignored the fact that she wanted to get back to the apartment as soon as possible. If she allowed herself to think about why it was that she wanted to go back, she’d find herself thinking troublesome thoughts that she didn’t want to bother with. Still, she pressed her head against the cold glass and placed her hand underneath her jaw as she watched the powdery snow fall from the sky.

The new semester was going to start in less than a week, and she realized with a jolt that she was almost a junior now. Half her college experience was almost over. She was going to turn twenty, holy shit. The thought of being an adult and being completely responsible made her nervous. Even for someone as self-assured and independent as her, Annabeth couldn’t help but wish she was younger so that life could be a little less complicated. It was funny, she mused. She spent her entire youth furious that she wasn’t older and more independent, but now that she was she was starting to miss it.

When the taxi stopped in front of the apartment, she hastily paid the cab driver before carrying her luggage into the lobby. She pressed the elevator button about a thousand times before it finally came down and let her in. As she rode the elevator up, she felt her heart racing, like she was about to audition for something. She did her best to ignore these feelings and all but raced to the door with her keys in hand. When she finally shimmied the lock open and stepped in with her luggage to see Percy sitting on the living room sofa with a book in hand, a warmth spread through her stomach.

Yes, this is home. The thought made her blink, and Percy looked up at her with a smile. Meeting his eyes unfroze her and she put her jacket away and kicked her shoes off before dragging the luggage into the kitchen so she could grab a glass of water.

“Welcome home, roomie,” Percy said casually, taking a sip of his coffee as he looked down at his book again.

Annabeth almost choked on her water. Welcome home. Had he really said that? When she felt it was safe, she chugged the rest of her water and turned back to him.

“It’s good to be back,” she said, not thinking.

Percy looked up with a surprised smile. “Huh, I was expecting you to say something a little more vitriolic to me, but this is nice. The holidays have made you nicer,” he said.

“Literally eat dog shit.”

His laugh filled the room, and it made her cheeks prickle as blood rushed into her face. “There she is!” he joked.

“You’re the absolute worst, you know that?” she asked, walking to her room with her luggage. She put her suitcase by her bed when she heard him answer from the living room.

“I’m aware,” he said.

Annabeth smiled to herself in the privacy of her room without Percy’s eyes on her. When a little twinge of irritation popped up, she, for once, repressed it. It was okay to be happy to see him. It was okay. It was okay.

When she turned around, Percy was standing in her doorway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. A snarky remark rose to the tip of her tongue, but Annabeth held off when she saw the fondness in his eyes as he looked at her. It was probably the first time in her entire life that she’d seen someone that looked happy to see that she was home again, she realized.

“Hey, everything okay? You seem off,” he said.

Annabeth opened her mouth to dismiss his statement, but the words stayed lodged in her throat, refusing to come out. She bit her lip and stared past him as she tried to think about what to say to him.

“Going back home isn’t as cut out as it’s meant to be,” she said, shrugging in a way that she hoped seemed nonchalant.

“Problems with the family?”

Annabeth didn’t grace him with a response, but Percy just nodded in response before rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s okay if you don’t wanna talk about it. I mean, it goes without saying, but I’m here if you ever need someone to talk to and stuff,” he said, his cheeks turning a gentle shade of pink.

Annabeth found herself at a loss for words, but she know for certain that she was grateful. Before she could think too much, Percy spoke up again.

“Oh, mom wants you to come over to have dinner tonight, so yeah. It should be fun. She’s a really good cook, and she keeps asking about you and stuff. If you want to join us and stuff that would be great,” he said.

“Yes,” Annabeth said immediately. “Yes, I’d love to.”

Percy’s face lit up and a goofy smile crossed his lip. “Really? Awesome, I’ll let her know. She’ll be so excited,” he said, starting towards the hallway.

“Hey, Percy,” Annabeth said before he left. “Thanks.”

He looked back at her and nodded before walking back into the living room. For a few seconds, Annabeth stood alone in her room with a small smile on her face. Maybe it was okay to admit that this was home. Maybe for the first time, she could say that she had a home, in the truest sense of the word. She’d found home with some stranger from her school on Facebook. It just seemed so ridiculous to her.

Annabeth grabbed something from her suitcase and wondered for a few seconds before walking back into the living room. She sat beside Percy on the sofa and when he looked over at her, she handed him the box she’d gotten from her suitcase.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Christmas present, duh,” Annabeth said.

His eyes widened. “You got me a Christmas present?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes and said, “Always a tone of surprise. You must think I’m some kinda unfeeling, rage monster or something. Of course I got you a Christmas present, dumbass,” she said.

He grinned and said, “Oh, thanks. Can I open it now?”

“Why’d you think I gave it to you right now?” she asked.

Percy rolled his eyes before starting to remove the wrapping paper from the gift. When he was through, he opened the box and pulled out an icy blue neck tie. He looked closely at the tie and felt the fabric in his hands, but then his eyes suddenly bulged.

“Burberry?” he asked incredulously, looking over at Annabeth with a dazed expression on his face.

When she nodded, he gave her a deer in the headlights look. “No way, I can’t accept this. This is too much,” he said, thrusting the tie back in her hands.

Annabeth forcefully put the tie back in his hands and said, “I’m sick of you wearing trashy ties. You’re almost twenty now, so you should have a tie that’s not complete horse shit. So I don’t want to hear anything about it. You’re stuck with this.”

He slowly took the tie and held it reverently in his hands. “This has to be at least two hundred dollars, Annabeth,” he whispered.

She didn’t say anything until he looked back at her. “Thanks,” he said softly. “I really mean it. This is amazing.”

Annabeth blushed scarlet and said, “You’re welcome.”

For a few silent seconds, Percy held the tie up to the light and marveled at it before a devilish smirk crossed his face which made Annabeth’s insides churn not unpleasantly. He looked back at her with a wicked look in his eyes.

“I was just remembering the last time you forced a tie onto me,” he said.

Annabeth’s eyes widened with recognition. “Oh,” she said, her throat suddenly completely dry.

“What do you say? Want to give it a spin? For old time’s sake?” he asked.

“It’s a Burberry tie,” she protested, not entirely sure why she was when she could feel how wet she’d become in only a matter of seconds after she’d seen Percy’s smile.

“Only the best for you, babe,” Percy said, winking for effect.

He slid over to her and Annabeth stopped him as he took her wrists in his hand. “Wait, I have to get my shirt off and stuff, and we should head to my room” she sputtered.

His eyes darkened as he nodded and they walked over to her room. Annabeth took her shirt off with trembling fingers. She could feel his eyes on him as her silver bra came into view, and his sharp intake of breath made her squirm in place. He took her wrists in his hand before tying them onto her headboard. She was completely at his mercy for once, and the anticipation was killing her.

“I’ll be right back,” he said suddenly, standing up and walking over to the kitchen. Annabeth watched him incredulously as she was left lying on her bed, tied to its frame, but when he came back a frisson of anticipation coursed through her.

“Last time we did this, you gagged me with your underwear,” he said, holding a fresh dish towel in his hand. “It’s only fair that I do the same with you.”

Annabeth licked her lips as he put the towel in front of her mouth and tied it against the back of her head. He unbuckled her pants and put a finger inside her without removing them or her panties completely. Instinctively, she bucked against his finger, desperate for stimulation. Percy smiled and pulled his finger out, making a show of licking his finger, sending a wave of heat straight to her thighs.

He removed her pants and underwear before taking his own clothes off and slowly started stroking himself in front of her, which made her squirm in place. Percy grinned as he continued to stroke himself with languid strokes.

“I’ve been waiting for this for weeks,” he said, his voice husky and hoarse. “I’ve had to take care of myself since you weren’t here, just like this. It’s funny how you get used to regular sex and how frustrating it can be when you suddenly can’t have it anymore.”

Annabeth knew exactly what he was talking about. She’d fingered herself to orgasm in the shower back in her father’s home every single day, desperate to come back so she could fuck him again. Seeing him pleasuring himself and admitting to it right in front of her was doing nothing to help her feelings of pent up sexual frustration.

When she made a muffled moan of protest, Percy finally stopped and walked over to her, making a point not to touch her feverish skin.

“Do you want me to fuck you?” he hissed.

Annabeth couldn’t help but moan again in response as she nodded as best as she could — she was too horny to care about her pride right now. If Percy wanted her to beg before he fucked her then she’d do it if it meant finally breaking three weeks of abstinence.

A smirk danced across his lips before he fished a condom out of his wallet and rolled it over his length. Annabeth held her breath as he unclasped her bra and tossed it aside, exposing her hardened nipples to him. He straddled her and slowly leaned down to press a delicate kiss to one of them, making her shudder. He made eye contact with her as he lavished attention on her breasts, kissing, sucking, and pulling at her nipples. Then he kissed up the column of her neck, sucking hickeys with wanton abandon. It seemed like he was determined to kiss every inch of her skin, which only made her more desperate to have him inside her.

Finally, he positioned himself on top of her and slowly pushed into her, and they both let out groans of relief.

“Fuck,” Percy hissed.

He set a slow, luxuriant pace that wouldn’t make them come anytime soon, but Annabeth was fine with that. As much as every fiber of her being screamed for him to just fuck her as hard as he possibly could, this kind of slow burn sex was exactly what she needed. She circled her hips and met his thrusts as they established an easy rhythm. For all their times having sex, they hadn’t really done much with vanilla missionary, but Annabeth found herself getting addicted to it. Being completely at his mercy, feeling his weight over her as he fucked her was completely different but amazing none the less.

They continued the pace for the better part of twenty minutes before his self-control started to wane and his desire took over. Percy’s hips started to buck into her faster and faster, building a rapid pace that wasn’t possible when she was on top. She struggled to meet him now at this faster pace, so she resigned herself to letting him do the work. When she stopped her involvement, she found that she was able to enjoy the sensations a lot more. It was more intense being able to see Percy desperately fucking her like his life depended on it without her input. She just sat back and allowed herself to enjoy the experience.

“You don’t come until I say so, got it?” he panted, and Annabeth’s eyes widened before she nodded in agreement.

“Good girl,” he said, dropping his head to kiss her breasts.

As he settled on a blistering pace, he buried his face into the crook of her neck and snaked his arms under her, holding her desperately against his body as he focused solely on thrusting into her. Annabeth began to moan continually as she surrendered to the myriad sensations she was experiencing, and she felt an orgasm coming on and she knew he wasn’t that far off either.

“Annabeth,” Percy groaned. “Gonna cum, gonna cum so hard.”

His words made her whimper pathetically as she braced herself for an explosive orgasm. But then she remembered his words and was determined to abide by them since he had when their roles had been reversed. She focused as much as she could on staving off her orgasm as Percy’s breathing grew more erratic.

Then suddenly, he gasped, “It’s okay, cum for me, Annabeth. I wanna feel you when I cum inside you.”

His words triggered an explosive orgasm as she shuddered against him, almost wailing against the gag as she came hard. Seconds later, she felt Percy still on top of her as his cock twitched inside her, spurting violently four times before he collapsed completely on her. When he’d regained his breath, he undid his makeshift gag and kissed his deeply.

“You’re fucking amazing,” he whispered, his voice all but gone.

Annabeth grinned. “This was nice. I like you on top, and I usually hate missionary. Dominant Percy is kinda hot,” she said.

Percy buried his face into the crook of her in embarrassment, which made her heart well up with affection. She could feel him smiling against her skin as he rolled out of her and peppered kisses all over her body.

“You gonna untie me?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Percy looked up at her from her belly and shook his head. “There’s no way I’m gonna pass up a chance like this to explore. You’re my prisoner now,” he said.

“Your prisoner?” she laughed.

Percy nodded, an earnest expression on his face. “I’m gonna kiss every inch of you. To borrow from what you told me ‘You haven’t been punished yet.’”

Annabeth rolled her eyes before laying down and letting him do what he wanted to. True to his word he kept kissing her, but she heard him murmuring under his breath between every kiss. She strained to hear what it was that he was saying, but when she deciphered it, she blushed furiously.

“I missed you too, dumbass.”


	6. Warmth

Annabeth was terrified standing in front of the apartment door with Percy beside her. He rang the doorbell and stepped back next to her, his hands buried in his coat pockets. She must’ve looked pale or feverish because Percy gently bumped into her.

“You okay? You seem a little nervous,” he said.

She managed a wan smile. “A little,” she said.

Percy laughed and said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s just my mom. She’ll love you, you’ll see.”

Despite what he said, Annabeth felt a desperate desire that she couldn’t understand. She had to impress this woman. She wanted Percy’s mother to like her so badly, and she had no idea why. It frustrated her, but no matter how much she tried to scrutinize how she felt, she couldn’t stop the fluttering sensation in her stomach that had been there since she got into the taxi with Percy on their way over to Sally’s apartment.

The door opened, and a brown haired woman rushed out and tackled Percy with a hug. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her, and Annabeth couldn’t help smiling at the two of them after her initial surprise faded. The woman broke the hug and held Percy’s shoulders to get a good look at him.

“Perseus Jackson, I know you’re busy with college, but would it kill you to visit once in while? We live in the same city!” she cried.

Percy had the decency to offer her a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Um, sorry about that mom. Things just really got away from me, sorry,” he said.

Sally rolled her eyes, and Annabeth instantly realized who Percy had learned it from. She turned to look at Annabeth and offered her a warm smile. Annabeth blinked and couldn’t help smiling back as a sensation of warmth blossomed in her stomach, stopping the fluttering altogether. This is what it’s like to have a real mother, she realized. It made sense now why Percy spoke so highly of her all the time.

“You must be Annabeth! Percy talks about you a lot, so I’m glad that we finally got the chance to meet! I hope Percy isn’t causing you too much trouble as a roommate,” she said.

“He can a bit annoying at times.”

“Hey!” Percy protested.

Sally and Annabeth laughed. “He’s a good roommate. I’m glad I met him,” Annabeth said, smiling softly.

“Good, I’m glad he’s not giving you too much grief. Why don’t you come inside and we can start dinner?” Sally suggested.

They all went into the apartment, and Annabeth made sure to look at everything. This was where Percy had grown up, she mused. It was a cozy, small apartment, and it looked well-lived in. They all moved to the dining table in the kitchen and sat down. Sally went over to the stove and finished warming up the food, asking the both of them questions the entire while.

“Is Paul coming?” Percy asked, leaning back in his chair.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and Percy went to get it. Annabeth watched as a middle aged man with salt-and-pepper hair walked in, shaking off the snow that had accumulated on his loafers. Sally came out of the sink and gave him a hug, and Annabeth watched Percy fondly roll his eyes at them as he came back to the kitchen.

“Who’s that?” Annabeth asked.

“Who, Paul? He’s my mom’s fiancé, and he taught english at the school I went to. I was actually in his class in the tenth grade, and they met at a student teacher meeting,” Percy explained.

Sally and Paul made it back to the table and sat down. Sally brought the food over, and they all began to eat and talk amongst themselves. At first there were general questions about school and work and future plans and the like, but towards the end of the main course, the conversation took an interesting turn.

“So how long have you both been dating?” Paul asked, finishing the rest of his spaghetti.

Annabeth almost choked on her eggplant, and Percy nearly spit his water back out. Sally smiled to herself as Paul gave them both confused.

“We’re not dating,” Annabeth said.

“Oh, I’m sorry for assuming. You both just seemed so in sync that I thought you were dating,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Percy asked.

Paul shrugged and said, “It’s hard to explain, but I thought I sensed some chemistry between you both. Like I said, it’s something difficult to explain. Do you understand what I mean, Sally?”

Sally nodded and said, “Yeah, people would assume the two of you were dating just by the way that you are around each other.”

A rush of blood tinged her cheek’s a soft shade of vermillion, and Annabeth forced herself to take a drink of water. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Percy was blushing hard too.

The fluttering sensation instantly flooded back in her stomach, and she felt uneasy. There was a weird sense of excitement or anticipation in her that she didn’t quite understand. There wasn’t any chemistry between them at all; they just had an arrangement for casual sex that benefited the both of them. That was it. There wasn’t anything beyond that — there wasn’t love in the air or anything.

Still, when she looked at Percy, there was a feeling in her that she’d never felt before. It was like a subtle, steady warmth that rested in the pit of her stomach. When she’d gotten back from San Francisco after staying at her dad’s place, she recognized that the sensation was there. It hadn’t been there when she was gone, but when she saw Percy sitting there, reading in the afternoon sunlight, the warmth had come back again. It was like things were alright again; that no matter how bad things got, it was okay.

The rest of the dinner passed by in a blur, and after staying back a while to talk, Annabeth found herself in a taxi on the way home with Percy sitting beside her. The feeling inside her still hadn’t faded, and she wanted to bring it up for the first time. Usually, Annabeth would’ve ignored it purely on the premise that it was illogical and therefore not important, but she felt like this was something that she couldn’t reason out. It wasn’t that what she felt was illogical but rather escaped logical comprehension.

“Hey Percy,” she said, looking at her lap.

“Hmm?”

“Um, this might be kind of weird, but I’m just thinking about what Paul said at the dinner. About us having chemistry or whatever?” she said.

“Oh, yeah I was too,” he said.

“Yeah?”

Percy nodded. “Mom told me as we were leaving that I had better not lose you and that I’d found someone pretty special,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“She said that?” Annabeth asked, looking at him.

“Yeah, I think Paul and mom think of us as a couple or something,” he said.

Annabeth blinked. “That’s weird,” she said.

Percy laughed and said, “Yeah, I know right? We’re usually at each other’s throats most of the time. Hard to imagine us having chemistry or anything. I’m pretty sure it’s just mom wanting me to get a girlfriend.”

“Oh,” Annabeth said. “I guess you’re right.”

The taxi stopped in front of their apartment, and Percy and Annabeth split the fare and walked inside. After stepping out the elevator, they finally made it back inside the apartment and turned the kitchen light on. Percy went into the kitchen to grab a glass of water, and Annabeth walked over to the living room sofa in a daze.

“Do you want anything?” Percy called from the kitchen.

“No, I’m good,” Annabeth said.

Percy came back a little while later and sat down beside her. Usually they’d turn on a movie and watch together, sometimes making a bowl of popcorn, but tonight they sat there in the darkness silently, unmoving. The voices in her head melted away as Annabeth felt her breathing slow down. It took her a while to realize that she’d been following Percy’s breathing pattern so that they breathed in sync. The thought would’ve made her angry in any other circumstance, but tonight she just went with it.

She allowed herself to get washed away in the tide of his breathing. Annabeth imagined that she could hear his heart beating steadily, calmly, an anchor in the silent dark. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see that Percy too was barely moving, his eyes out of focus. It occurred to her that they were probably doing the same thing, and the thought sent a shiver up her spine.

Maybe Paul and Sally were right after all. Human beings weren’t supposed to be this in tune with one another. Because right now, Annabeth felt like she and Percy were tuned to the same human frequency, and she felt lost in him as her sense of identity slipped. There wasn’t any need for Annabeth or Percy, not right now. There was only a single human noise, the sound of two souls breathing as one.

Annabeth crawled onto Percy’s lap silently. His eyes were heavily lidded, just like hers were, and they both leaned in together as if drawn by some magnetic connection. Her lips brushed against his like butterfly wings brushing against winter snow for only an instant.

They hovered above each other for a second, not kissing, and then as if a switch had turned on, they leaned back in for a deep kiss. It was a kiss that had almost nothing to do with sex and everything to do with love. Annabeth felt the sensation of warmth in her stomach expand, growing in size until it enveloped the both of them, like a private sun. Her fingers tangled instinctively into Percy’s hair as his hands caressed her head.

In the haze, Annabeth found herself ripping her clothes off as Percy did the same with his, and then he was hovering over her, waiting for her consent. Annabeth bit her lip and nodded, moaning as he slid inside her. This was right. He set a quick pace like usual, but Annabeth stopped him.

“I don’t want that, not tonight.”

Percy blinked. “So what am I supposed to do?”

Annabeth closed her eyes and tried not to blush too much. “Make love to me.”

“What?”

Her skin prickled and she said, “I don’t want us to fuck. I want to know for once, what it would be like if we were a couple. So just for tonight, pretend that I’m your girlfriend and that you love me or something.”

Percy looked down at her, his face turning red as well, unmoving. Annabeth’s fingers curled around his face.

“Please,” she whispered.

There was a second where he looked down at her and then he nodded. “Okay,” he said.

Annabeth closed her eyes and focused on what she could feel. She could feel his body pressed flush against hers, and every atom inside her burned as he moved against her. Her hips naturally circled and met his thrusts, and this wasn’t supposed to feel this good. She could hear his ragged breathing ghosting over his skin, and she moaned as he kissed up the column of her neck like he was worshipping her.

When she finally felt her release, it felt like her soul had left her body for a second. Her body couldn’t process the pleasure that seemed to permeate every molecule that comprised her. Above her, Percy finally stilled and collapsed against her, racing to catch his breath. In the warm afterglow, Annabeth closed her eyes and surrendered to sleep, but as a result, she missed what Percy said under his breath against the crook of her neck.

“I wasn’t pretending, Annabeth. I was never pretending.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here ya go! i haven’t updated the fwb au in forever and there were like a thousand asks to continue it and have their relationship progress and stuff, so here’s them getting another step closer. there’s a sickening amount of fluff and corny lines here, so i apologize. 
> 
> ps: sally and paul totally ship them fyi. ignore all the spelling goofs - it’s 3:00 am right now TT___TT


	7. Collateral Damage

When they woke up the next day, something was different. Something had changed, and they couldn’t deny it. It was almost a physical entity that sat in the room, breathing heavily behind them. Annabeth sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She saw Percy standing by the window, wearing only a pair of sweat pants. There was a cup of coffee in his hand, and she watched with rapt attention as the tendrils of steam tickled his jaw, and she noticed the perfect way the sunlight illuminated half his face. She found that she couldn’t identify the look in his eyes.

“Percy?” she asked.

He turned and gave her a small smile. “I made coffee,” he said. “Would you like some?”

“Yes, please,” Annabeth said, putting her hand to her forehead.

As Percy busied himself in the kitchen, she sat there and mentally retraced how she’d gotten into such an awful situation. For fuck’s sake, she wasn’t even drunk, they weren’t even drunk, so it wasn’t like they had anything to blame for what they had done the night before. No, they were both fully in control and neither of them tried to stop what was possibly the most intimate sex she’d ever had in her life.

Percy came back from the kitchen and offered her a fresh hot cup of coffee that she gratefully accepted. He sat on the sofa next to her, but Annabeth couldn’t help noticing that he was sitting away from her. This is what she hated about falling in love: the changes. It ruined everything. That easy teasing banter was gone, replaced by silent awkwardness. No, it had even ruined silence. When they sat together silently before, the silence felt companionable, felt comfortable. She hated this.

“We should probably talk about last night,” Percy said in a low voice.

Annabeth stopped midway through a sip of her coffee and looked at him. Percy turned around and sat so that he was directly looking at her, his legs crossed under him. She put the cup down on the coffee table and mimicked his posture.

“Yeah, I guess we should,” she said, biting the inside of her cheek.

He looked at her silently for a few seconds and despite the gravity of the conversation, Annabeth was distracted by the fact that he was shirtless. Before he could say anything, she quickly picked his shirt up off the floor and thrust it in his face so that he couldn’t see how hard she was blushing.

“Wear this,” she said.

Percy gave her an incredulous look, and Annabeth could almost see the myriad of witty comebacks he could make, but when he just silently put the shirt back on, she actually found herself wishing he’d gloated about it.

“Do I meet your approval?” Percy deadpanned.

Annabeth was grateful and relieved when a small smile broke across her face. “Always,” she said.

She’d meant for it to sound tongue-in-cheek, but it came out way more earnest than she’d intended. If Percy caught on, however, he didn’t show it. Instead, he picked at a fraying thread on the sofa and bit his lip, which almost made Annabeth whimper, but thankfully someone was watching over her and she managed to avoid making the situation any worse than she already had.

“I- I need to know,” Percy said, visibly struggling, “what you think of me.”

He still wouldn’t look at her. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean,” Percy said quietly.

Annabeth found herself panicking despite herself. “This is all getting very doom and gloom here,” she said, trying for a laugh that ended up sounding more like she was on the verge of tears.

Percy finally looked up, and Annabeth flinched under the intensity of his stare. “Annabeth, I’m being serious,” he said.

She fidgeted with her fingers. “I don’t know, Percy,” she said, laughing shakily. “What am I supposed to say?”

Even though she wanted to avoid looking at him, she found herself drawn to his eyes like they were magnets. “I’m asking if you love me,” he said.

A flash flood of shock coursed through her body. She hadn’t expected him to come out and say it. The logical response was on the tip of her tongue; all she had to do was say no, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t say no because she didn’t want to lie to him, she couldn’t lie to him. He deserved the truth.

“I don’t know,” she said, striking a compromise between a lie and a truth.

For a few seconds, they just stared into each other’s eyes. It looked like Percy was searching for something in her eyes, her expression, so she tried her best to keep a poker face. Then the light and fight seemed to fade out of his eyes, and Percy seemed to wither before her eyes like a rose.

“I don’t think I want to room with you next year, Annabeth,” he said.

Annabeth blinked. “What?” she asked.

He couldn’t be serious. There was no way he could be serious. This had to be a joke. Even for Percy though, this was too much. He had to be playing a cruel prank on her to draw a confession out of her, and Annabeth was terrified when she realized that was falling into his trap anyways. Maybe if she told him the truth, he would stay. Everything seemed to be moving so fast, and her thoughts were pieces of broken glass scattered haphazardly in her mind, and there were too many pieces to pick up on her own.

Percy’s face darkened, and he looked down at his lap. When he spoke, his voice sounded raspy, like his throat had gone bone dry. “I just don’t think I can do this anymore,” he said.

“Do what?” Annabeth asked.

She couldn’t help the slight hysteria that snuck into her tone. Behind the hysteria, there was a hulking mass of unjust anger just begging to be unleashed. She tried desperately to hold it at bay, but as she saw him sitting there silently, like he was totally at peace with stepping out her life. He really didn’t care about her at all, did he? She was just another good fuck to him. That was it. That had to be it. He’d had his fun, and he wanted out.

There was a small part of her that screamed at her, telling her that Percy wasn’t like that, that it was unfair of her to reduce him to such an inaccurate caricature, but she ignored it. If he was going to leave her, then she was sure as hell not going to let him do this with a total air of disinterest. At the very least, Annabeth wanted to see him squirm, to wring his soul like a towel in the hopes that she’d find some drop buried inside him that showed that he really did care.

“So I guess this is it, huh? You’ve had your fun, and now you’re not interested anymore, right?” she asked bitterly, looking away from him. It was easy to spout hurtful lies when she didn’t have to face him.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Percy’s shock: his mouth was open, his brow furrowed, with a look in his eyes that made her feel like she was walking on broken glass. “Is that— Is that really what you think?” he asked.

Annabeth didn’t like the tone in his voice one bit, like she was breaking his heart instead of the other way around, and it made her even angrier than she already was. “Well, I mean you decide that you don’t want to stay with me anymore the night after we shared something that I thought was really intimate, so I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that you’re getting cold feet and want out. You’d only signed up for a good fuck after all,” she snapped.

“Annabeth, that’s not— that’s not why,” he protested.

“Spare me the bullshit,” she said, standing up so that she could hate him with all of her body. “I was totally fucking naive to think that you were any different. The worst part is that you have yourself fooled too, you know? You think that you’re different from all the other guys in the world, that you’re so much more decent and unselfish and trustworthy, but you’re not. You think that just because you care about mommy so much that you’re a fucking saint, don’t you? But you’re just like all the rest of them, and if you think otherwise, you’re lying to yourself.”

Percy screwed his eyes shut and sat there silently, and Annabeth saw him swallow several times like he was trying his best not to cry. It hurt her so deeply to see him like this, to know that she was doing this to him, but she couldn’t stop. She’d already come too far. Maybe if she could show him that she had no qualms about leaving him, then she would eventually believe it herself. Maybe if she hurt him enough, she would be able to escape how devastated she felt. Collateral damage. If she was going to sink, she’d be damned if she didn’t take him with her. Annabeth didn’t know if she wanted him with her because she wanted to spite him or because she needed him to save her.

“Is that what you really think of me?” Percy asked, and his voice quivered despite his attempts to keep it measured and steady.

Annabeth decided that it was a rhetorical question, so she didn’t answer. Well, it was more because she felt frozen in place. The truth was on the tip of her tongue, just like it had been since this morning, begging to be confessed. She wanted to tell him that no, she didn’t think that at all, that she was actually terrified of how achingly kind and endlessly compassionate and warm he was, that she didn’t know when she’d started paying attention to the faint splash of freckles on the bridge of his nose that she found impossibly adorable, that she wasn’t sure when she’d fall so hard, so fast for him. But she didn’t — Annabeth didn’t say anything.

A sole tear escaped Percy’s closed eyes, and it nearly shattered her resolve, but before she could surrender, he wiped it away and stood up. When he looked at her, his eyes were dead, like a light had gone out inside them.

“You’re right, Annabeth,” he said with a breathy laugh. “I’m not different at all.”

Annabeth stood rooted to the spot and watched as she watched Percy degrade himself in front of her.

“I’m every bit as selfish and dishonest and manipulative as every other guy in the world. I was only looking for a good fuck, and now I’m not interested anymore, so I don’t want to be with you anymore,” he said mechanically, parroting her own words back to her. 

“What?” Annabeth asked. She felt like she was going to burst into tears.

Percy nodded and said, “I think I’m going to stay with my mom for the rest of the semester, so I’ll just get my things and be out of your hair soon.”

Even when he was torturing himself for her sake, he couldn’t help being kind to her, she realized.

No, stay. Stay.

Annabeth watched him go to the closet and stuff his clothing into a suitcase along with his toiletries and other essential things. She couldn’t move.

No no no no no no no no no. Please. Stop. Stay. I’m sorry.

She wanted to tell him what she really thought, but what she said instead was, “Don’t forget your other jacket.”

He gave her a brief look with an indecipherable expression on his face and nodded. With all of his things gathered, Percy left without saying goodbye. The door didn’t shut with a resounding slam - it closed gently behind him, and just like that Percy Jackson stepped gently out of her life, and Annabeth was alone.

Her first thought was “He’s gone. He’s really gone.”

And then she cried. Annabeth sank to the floor, covered her eyes with her hands, and sobbed. With him finally gone, the levy keeping her self-loathing at bay broke with a vengeance, and Annabeth cried with her entire body.

She had a penchant for fucking up anything good in her life. Percy had been one of the only good things she had left - he was her only real friend, closer than family, and always there for her, and she did this to him. All for what? Because she didn’t want him to reject her? Why had she thought that pre-emotively rejecting him would make her feel any less empty? If anything, Annabeth felt worse now than how she imagined she would’ve felt if Percy had actually gotten a chance to speak his piece. But it was done. There was nothing more that she could about it.

Annabeth wanted to scream. Her life had turned into a cliche soap opera: a boy meets a girl and they agree to a no strings attached relationship until one of them catches feelings and ruins everything. It was all so horribly hackneyed. Annabeth thought she was better than that, but she’d played her role in said soap opera to a T.

When all this had started, she told herself that it would be different, that she wouldn’t let herself every get close to Percy or to care for him. She’d tried to shut him out by being rude and antagonizing him, but somehow, Percy still managed to worm his way into her heart, filling a void in her that she wasn’t even aware existed. Now, it was as if his absence made her feel even emptier because of it.

Annabeth wiped her eyes and hugged her knees to her chest. It was okay. This was for his own good, she told herself. It was only a matter of time before she fucked everything up like she always did anyways. Getting Percy to leave was good for him. He’d never have to deal with her anymore. Now that he was out of reach, she couldn’t hurt him anymore. Annabeth had finally set him free.

Then why did it still hurt so bad?

The question plagued her as she went through the rest of her day, and it was the last thought before she finally, mercifully fell asleep.


	8. I'm Sorry, I'm Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's better than angst?? suspended angst, that's what! there's a fair bit more to the story actually, so get ready to suffer :) i hate being that guy that uses song titles as his chapter headings, but it fit and i had no better ideas, so sue me. title comes from "i'm sorry, i'm lost" by epigram, and i think it pairs well with the story, if you'd care to take a listen. let me know what you think of the chapter, and the song too, if you listened to it.
> 
> also, i posted a pretty long one-shot called "at the end of the ocean," but so far it has no comments or anything, so i would really appreciate it if you took some time to read it and let me know what you thought.

Over the next week, Annabeth wrote about twenty texts to Percy that she ultimately never sent, each filled with increasingly cringe-worthy apologies. Her frustration mounted with each half-baked apology, and she managed to, with great will, sweep it under the proverbial rug. There was nothing that she could do now anyways. It was better that she left Percy alone. Trying to win him back with an apology would be selfish.

This is how she managed to convince herself to carry on with her life like nothing had changed. It was just really hard to do that when the apartment was so quiet and felt so empty. Annabeth had never had problems with loneliness before. In fact, she was much happier when she was away from others because she had time to herself. But ever since Percy had left, Annabeth felt so lonely she felt like she was dying.

And that was without the soul crushing guilt that oppressed her like a great weight. Annabeth was reminded of the titan Atlas who was sentenced to hold the weight of the sky for all of eternity, and she began to feel a certain kinship with him.

After the first week, she managed to sustain herself by going through the motions. She adhered stringently to a schedule she’d created, and even though it made her feel like a robot, at least it introduced some order back into her life. It made things only slightly easier, but she felt increasingly worn down with each passing day. Often, she found herself wishing to catch a glimpse of Percy on campus, partially to see if he was as miserable as she was, partially because she just really missed him.

When she heard some of her classmates talking about an upcoming swim meet, Annabeth bit her lip and had to try very hard to convince herself not to go. The odds were that Percy wouldn’t even notice if she’d shown up, she’d argue, but in her heart she knew that it was only going to inspire greater loneliness instead of abating it.

It’s about three weeks after Percy left the apartment that Annabeth recieved a call from someone she’d never expected to talk to again. She was laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with a glassy stare, when her phone began to vibrate, which prompted her to move and answer it.

“Hello?” she said tiredly.

“Annabeth?”

Annabeth sat bolt upright and felt her jaw clench. “Why are you calling me, Luke?” she hissed. “I thought I blocked your fucking number.”

Luke laughed a little nervously and said, “Um, yeah, you did. I’m using a friend’s phone actually. Please don’t hang up.”

“Funny, I distinctly remember you telling me that it was better if we didn’t see or talk to each other again when you broke up with me,” she said.

“I know what I said, and I’m sorry. I was an idiot.”

Annabeth sighed and pressed her hand against her forehead. “What do you want, Luke?” she said warily.

“I, uh, I just— I just really missed you, okay? I wanted to get in touch with you, and see if maybe we could start over again. I know we didn’t really end things well, but I really want to give it another try,” he said.

“Well, I don’t,” Annabeth said flatly. “Now goodbye.”

“Wait! Wait! Look, Annabeth, I just want you to know that I’m sorry. You were my first serious girlfriend, and I kind of freaked out. I wasn’t sure I wanted to handle that commitment. I’m used to casual dating, not serious dating.”

Talking about commitment made a searing lump form in Annabeth’s throat and prevented her from putting the phone down. “You can’t just abandon people and pick them up again at your convenience, Luke. You left me out to dry, literally. We were going to rent a place together.”

“Annabeth, you’re twenty years old, and I’m twenty two. I don’t think either of us were ready to move in together. We rushed things. I’m not saying we should get back together or anything, but I think we could take a shot at being friends and just move slower this time,” he said.

If he had called two weeks ago, Annabeth would’ve laughed and told him to fuck off, but his offer sounded seriously tempting. The realization that she didn’t really have anyone in her life struck Annabeth all at once. She was alone. She had no one, and she was alone. Annabeth almost allowed a watery sob to escape her, but she remembered who she was talking to.

Instead, she took a deep breath and said, “Okay, Luke. Let’s give it another try.”

~oOo~

They met in front of the university library later that same week. Luke had given her a sheepish smile and awkwardly moved in for a hug that Annabeth neatly evaded. She wasn’t ready for that. If it bothered him, Luke gave no indication. They walked in the snow to a coffee shop that Luke had raved about over the phone. Annabeth had never heard of it, but she didn’t care. He was just a distraction, she told herself. For a little while, she wouldn’t be alone.

Luke was talking animatedly about something, but Annabeth couldn’t find it in her to pay attention to him. Looking at him in the afternoon light, she saw the features that had initially attracted her to him — cropped sandy blonde hair, pale icy blue eyes, and well-toned physique. Only now when she looked at him, Annabeth found herself wishing his hair was black, his eyes green, his body leaner.

He caught her looking and gave her a bright smile. Annabeth realized he probably assumed that she’d been giving him a once over. She didn’t bother to correct his assumption. What did it matter anyways?

They’d first met at some college party her freshman year. They’d both gotten drunk and started kissing before heading back to his apartment for the night. It was a sloppy story that Annabeth wasn’t proud of. It wasn’t like her to have one night stands or to get so drunk that she had no impulse control. They kept meeting after that though and eventually started going out. Dating a junior hadn’t really felt all that strange to her, even though it did now.

Once they arrived, Luke opened the door for her and grinned. “The coffee here is amazing, trust me. I’ll go find us some seats and maybe you can get in line for us?” he said.

Annabeth nodded mutely and went to the line. Maybe it was a mistake to come, she wondered. She didn’t feel any less lonely. If anything, being around Luke made her feel more empty. He was just a distraction. God, she was so selfish. And she had the audacity to tell him that you couldn’t use people for your own convenience. Annabeth was a terrible person.

“Next!”

When she heard the barista’s voice, Annabeth felt her hairs raise, and she wanted to run out the door as fast as she could and never look back. It was _just_ her fucking luck that Luke would choose the one coffee shop in New York that Percy worked at. She shuffled forward in line with her jaw clenched tightly.

Annabeth looked up at Percy, and her breath caught in her throat a little. He looked at her blankly, his mouth slightly open and his brow slightly furrowed, before he plastered a smile on his face.

“Hi, welcome to Ambrosia. What can I get for you today?” he asked too brightly.

Her throat felt dry. It occurred to her to look at the menu instead of gaping like a fish at Percy’s face. She scanned past him and ordered the first thing she saw.

“A hazelnut mocha latte,” she said. “Please.”

“One hazelnut mocha latte coming right up,” Percy chirped. “That’ll be $5.37.”

Annabeth mutely handed him her credit card and watched blankly as he processed her order. He looked totally normal, and Annabeth hated him for it. She’d been agonizing in her room, tormenting herself about him, and he looked like he didn’t even care that she was gone. But try as she might, Annabeth couldn’t force herself to get angry at him. She just felt sad.

That was when Luke walked behind her and said, “Awesome, thanks for saving me a spot. I’ll get an espresso.”

Percy looked back and forth between them for a second or two before smiling that same plastic smile again. “Sure thing. That’ll be $6.70,” he said.

Annabeth felt paralyzed where she stood. She felt a compulsion to tell Percy that she wasn’t dating Luke. She wanted to tell him that no, she wasn’t, that she hadn’t stopped thinking about him since he left, but she stood there immobilized by Percy’s presence. All she could think about was how close he was to her right now, how only a counter separated her from catching his apron, and how he still smelled like ocean spray even with the strong aroma of coffee lingering heavily in the air.

Luke nudged her and snapped her out of her trance. He jerked his head to Percy, and Annabeth looked at him again and saw Percy holding a transparent cup and a marker in his hand.

“Name?” Percy asked, a frosty smile on his lips.

It was funny how one word could hurt more than a blow from a sledgehammer. Annabeth’s tongue felt like sandpaper in her mouth, and her voice almost cracked when she said, “Percy.”

She said his name like it was a plea: a plea for him not to do this to her, a plea for him to forgive her, a plea for him. He just maintained steely, unflinching eye contact with her with the same challenging look that he used to give her all the time whenever they got into stupid arguments back home, and it was like a slap in the face.

“Name,” he repeated.

Annabeth tried to speak, but she found the task impossible. She could feel Luke’s eyes on her, and he spoke on her behalf. “Annabeth,” he said. “Her name is Annabeth.”

That was when Percy finally broke eye contact and looked at Luke. “I’ll have both of your orders ready soon,” he said curtly.

Annabeth let Luke lead her to their table, and she sat down and stared at her lap. “Hey, is everything okay?” Luke asked.

“It’s fine,” Annabeth said without looking up. “I just feel tired is all.”

“D-Did something happen between you and the barista?” Luke asked hesitantly.

Annabeth looked up and mustered a strained smile. “No, he didn’t even know my name, remember?” she lied.

Luke didn’t look all that convinced, but he nodded anyways. “If you want, I can go get our drinks when he calls our name?” he offered.

“No!” Annabeth said quickly. “It’s fine. I can get it myself.”

She stood up before he could get another word in otherwise and made her way to counter to wait for their names to be called. Percy called their names just as she reached the counter, and he set the cups down and turned around as soon as he saw her. Annabeth ignored how much it stung and grabbed his shirt. 

“Percy,” she said.

He turned around and looked at her, and Annabeth could see the dark bags under his eyes, startling in their juxtaposition with the brilliant sea-foam green of his eyes. There was something off about him, but she didn’t know what it was exactly. Annabeth stared at him with the same searching gaze he’d looked at her with the day he’d left, and, like him, she found herself looking at an impenetrable wall.

“Let go,” he said, his voice low and quiet.

“Just let me explain,” Annabeth said.

“There’s nothing to explain, Annabeth. I’m glad you’re on a date. Good for you,” he said, smiling again.

“It’s _not_ a date,” Annabeth said desperately.

“Okay, now I have to go back to work,” Percy said, looking thoroughly unconvinced.

“ _Percy, please,_ just listen to me _._ ”

Percy’s expression darkened. “Why?”

The question almost made her physically recoil. He was right — why should he listen indeed?

“I— I,” Annabeth stammered.

“Why should I? I don’t owe you anything, especially not after you flaunting your new boyfriend in my face.”

Annabeth clenched her jaw. “You and I were never dating. Our agreement was open to us having other relationships,” she said, not entirely sure where she was going. Jesus, she always had to fuck everything up, didn’t she?

Percy opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then he stopped himself and instead said, “You know what, I really don’t want to deal with this. I have to get back to work.”

“Listen, I’m—“ Annabeth began again, but Percy sagged before her, like all the wires holding him up had suddenly snapped all at once, and he looked at her with a gaze like broken glass.

“Haven’t you done enough, already?” he whispered. “Please, just leave me alone, Annabeth.”

Annabeth didn’t fight back when he swatted her hand away from his shirt, and she didn’t bother to stop him when he went back to the counter to deal with another customer with a fresh, plastic smile on his face. Annabeth didn’t like it when he smiled like that. It was just _wrong_. Percy’s smiles were so genuine, so full of life, that these fake ones were an affront to the real article.

She walked back to the table with the drinks in hand and sat down. Later, she’d leave the shop with Luke and would suggest going back to his place. Luke would be surprised, but he would agree. She’d kiss him on the elevator ride up as possessively as she wanted to kiss Percy at that moment. They would leave a trail of clothing to the bedroom where Annabeth would push Luke onto his back and fuck him. She’d ride him harder and faster again and again and again because then maybe she would finally feel something. Annabeth wanted to feel this the next day. She fucked him with desperation: nails digging into skin, sweat on her brow, and a fire in her stomach. When Luke stilled beneath her, spent, Annabeth felt impossibly empty, and all she could think about was what Percy had said to her.

_Haven’t you done enough, already?_

_Please, just leave me alone, Annabeth._


	9. Confessions

Annabeth didn’t bother to see Luke again after that. Being with him had confirmed what she’d already known but had been too afraid to acknowledge — she cared about Percy in a way that she’d never cared about anyone else in her life before. Maybe that was why she’d given being with Luke another chance, to see if Percy held a place in her heart. Maybe that’s why she was standing in front of Sally Jackson’s doorstep after ringing the doorbell, waiting for someone to answer the door. All she knew was that she had to tell him how she felt.

When the door opened, she was surprised to see Paul standing there, wearing a similarly surprised expression on his own face. “Annabeth?” he said.

“H-Hello,” Annabeth said nervously. “Is Percy in there? I wanted to talk to him.”

“He’s not here right now,” Paul said. “I think he’s at work?”

Annabeth’s face fell, and she said, “Oh. I guess I’ll leave then.”

But before she could turn away, Paul put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a kind smile. “Why don’t you come inside and have some coffee? You look like you could use some.”

Annabeth blinked a few times and stepped inside after him. She took a seat at the dining table, the same seat she’d taken when she’d come here a month and a half ago when she had dinner with Percy and his family. To Annabeth, the memory felt like it belonged to a different lifetime. She waited as Paul busied himself pouring them both two fresh cups of hot coffee. When he sat down, he handed her a cup and smiled again.

“How’re you doing, Annabeth? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. Not since the dinner, I think,” he said.

She looked down at her lap and played with her fingers. “I assume Percy told you everything that happened then?” she asked.

“Not the specifics,” Paul admitted. “Just that he felt it was best that you both parted ways. He hasn’t really talked about it much.”

“I-I see.”

“He’s been preoccupied of late,” Paul said tiredly, rubbing his forehead. “We’ve all been.”

“It is a busy time of the year,” Annabeth said.

Paul’s eyes widened, and he sat up straighter. “Wait, Percy didn’t tell you?” he asked.

“Tell me what?” Annabeth asked with a frown.

“Sally’s health has taken a turn of the worse, I’m afraid,” Paul said, offering her a strained smile. “The doctors have been keeping a close eye on her, running tests and everything. It seems pretty serious.”

It felt someone had just hit her square in the chest with a metal rod, and Annabeth felt the air leave her lungs. “What?”

“It wasn’t long after Percy arrived actually,” Paul said. “She was cooking and suddenly fell unconscious. We called an ambulance immediately, thinking that she’d spend a night in the hospital, two at most, before she’d get discharged. But they ran some tests on her and decided it was best for her to stay there, where they could keep an eye on her. She’s been there for over a month now.”

“Do they know what’s wrong with her?”

Paul was silent for a few seconds, and Annabeth felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach. When he answered, he was only confirming what Annabeth had already guessed.

“They said she has brain tumors,” Paul said, not meeting her eyes.

“Oh my god,” Annabeth whispered.

“She’s going through rounds of chemotherapy right now, and they’re getting inconsistent results. Sometimes, she responds well to the treatment, and other times, not so much. They caught it early enough for it not to be terminal, but not early enough for there to be a surefire recovery,” he continued.

Annabeth was almost afraid to ask her next question.  “How’s Percy taking all this?”

Paul’s face darkened, and he said, “From my observations, not that well. He does his best to hide it and won’t talk about it at all with me, but I can see how it’s weighing on him. He quit swimming to find a job. Money’s tight for us, after all. I’m only a high school teacher, and Sally’s a stay-at-home mom. Percy’s taken it upon himself to help out in any way he can, but he’s taking on too much. It makes sense though considering how long it was just him and his mother. This is his only parent, and you know how much he loves her. I can only imagine what he’s going through right now.”

She remembered the way he’d looked in the coffee shop, like he was being held up by invisible wires, and she felt waves of guilt and nausea threaten to consume her. It was hard to quantify how much self-loathing Annabeth felt for herself in that instant. While Percy had to deal with this, Annabeth had been off on a date with Luke. If she were in his shoes, she would’ve sobbed the instant she’d walked into the coffee shop with him.

Annabeth buried her face in her hands and screwed her eyes shut to keep herself from crying. “I’m so selfish,” she said quietly, and her voice wavered dangerously.

“You’re not, Annabeth,” Paul said gently. “You didn’t know.”

“That doesn’t change anything,” she said. “I—I was terrible to him. I’ve always only ever been terrible to him when he’s only ever been kind and patient with me. I don’t deserve to be around someone like him.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Paul said. “He thinks very highly of you, you know?”

“He hates me,” she said, shaking her head. “He doesn’t want to see me.”

“Is it that he doesn’t want to see you or that you don’t want to see him?” Paul asked.

Annabeth looked up at him and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know.”

“Just go see him,” he said. “It would be good for him, and for you.”

For a while, Annabeth remained silent and played with her fingers, but then she took a deep breath. She refused to be selfish any longer, not when Percy need her. “Okay, I promise.”

~oOo~

As she stood in the doorway to Sally’s room, every instinct in her body screamed for her to run, but she stood there rooted to the spot, like the connection between her brain and body had snapped. Annabeth stared at Percy’s mother, lying asleep on the hospital bed. Sally was hooked up to a set of IV drips, and there was a scarf tied around her hairless head. Annabeth’s fingers curled so tightly around the bouquet she’d bought that it hurt, and she felt like she was going to vomit.

Annabeth forced herself to take a tentative step inside and looked at Sally Jackson, and she found herself thinking that this was all some terrifying hallucination. She had to be dreaming. She’d seen Sally only a month and a half ago, and she’d looked perfectly healthy and happy. It just didn’t make any sense. None of this made any sense.

Annabeth jolted when she heard loud shouting in the hallway.

“—so you’re saying that there’s nothing that I can do, that I’m just supposed to let her die and be fine with that?”

“Mr. Jackson, I understand your frustration, I really do. I wish there was someway that we could help your mother, but her body is just not responding to the treatment.”

“What’re our chances if I were to check her into a different hospital?”

“I’m afraid there’s little anyone would be able to do for her. It’s best to let her remain here where she can be comfortable, instead of carting her off to another hospital. But, of course, it’s ultimately up to you.”

Silence.

When Percy spoke again, Annabeth felt her heart break at the shattered tone in Percy’s voice. “I thought you were supposed to save people.”

“I’m sorry,” was all the doctor said before leaving.

It took Annabeth all of five seconds to panic now that she knew Percy was about fifty feet away from here and probably heading towards this room. She couldn’t do this, she couldn’t do this, she couldn’t. She made it to the doorway just as Percy walked in, and they almost bumped into one another.

“Annabeth?”

She was stricken by how broken he looked. Percy’s eyes were rimmed red, and his face looked haggard. Annabeth wanted to reach out to him and give him a hug, to tell him that she was here now and that even if things weren’t okay, she wouldn’t leave him this time. But all she could manage was a breathless, “Percy, hi.”

“What’re you doing here?” he asked quietly.

Annabeth’s throat felt bone dry. “I—I came to visit. Paul said Sally was in the hospital, and I wanted to drop by.”

“Paul told you?” he asked rhetorically. Then, he furrowed his brow and set his mouth in a hard. “It doesn’t matter anyways,” he said. “Thanks for coming around, but I don’t have the time to deal with you right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Annabeth said forcefully.

He looked at her, totally lost, a film of tears pooling in his eyes. “Annabeth, _please_ ,” he whispered, and Annabeth felt her breath catch. “I thought I told you to leave me alone.”

“If you really want me gone, then I’ll leave, but I came here for you, not to argue. This is more important than anything going on between us, and I wanted to be there for you. But if you don’t want me here, then I guess I’ll leave.” 

She thrust the bouquet into his arms and walked past him, but before she could leave, Percy caught her hand. When she turned around, tears were streaming down his face even though his eyes were screwed shut.

“ _Stay_ ,” he said, so quietly she almost missed it. “ _Please_ , stay.”

“Okay,” she said. “Okay.”

~oOo~

They sat in Sally’s room, and the pinging sound coming from the heart rate monitor cut through the silence with an almost physical sharpness. Annabeth looked down at her lap and played with her fingers, and Percy sat next to her with his face buried in his hands. He was crying, but so quietly that Annabeth didn’t realize until she heard him sniffle. She felt her heart break, and she wanted more than anything to touch him, to show him that she was there for him and that she was sorry, but she wasn’t sure if he would’ve been okay with that. 

When he spoke, his voice was still incredibly quiet, quivering and soft. “I don’t know what to do,” Percy said.

He spoke like he was telling her a secret, and there was something so disarming about his honesty and openness that Annabeth felt her heart clench inside her chest.

“I don’t know what to do anymore,” he repeated.

“That’s okay,” Annabeth said. “No one’s expecting you to know what to do.”

Percy was silent for a while, only allowing an occasional sob or sharp intake of breath to escape him. “I tried so hard. I quit swimming and I worked twelve hour shifts and visited her as often as I could but nothing’s changed.”

“It’s not your fault,” Annabeth whispered. She wished that she could help more or at least have something more useful to say, but she was lost. She’d never been that good at comforting people, so she could only hope that she wasn’t upsetting him even more.

“I just want her to get better,” he said, and his voice was barely louder than a breath.

“I know,” Annabeth said.

There was another pause, and then, “I wanted to call you so bad when she first passed out.”

Annabeth’s heart rate skyrocketed, and when she turned to him, she saw that he looking at her intently, his eyes still glassy with unshed tears. “Why didn’t you? I would’ve come if you’d asked, you know?”

He met her eyes for a few seconds before he stared back at the ground. “I was scared,” he said simply, without any shame.

It terrified her, his openness — the way he sat before her without meeting her eyes, his eyes trained resolutely on the ground and shoulders slouched and shaking — and Annabeth found it hard to breathe. She hadn’t known his naked soul would be this strong, this brave, this beautiful.

And in that moment, like a bolt of lightning running through her entire body, Annabeth realized something: she was in love with Percy. She loved him so much it scared her. Deep down, she’d known that she was in love with him for a while, but it still felt like an epiphany. She was in love with him and his quiet, shameless, defiant openness. For all her brashness and stubbornness, Percy was braver and stronger than she would ever be, Annabeth realized.

“I love you,” she said suddenly, a tone of wonder in her voice.

Percy froze and looked at her with wide eyes. “W-What?” he stammered.

She didn’t even think about taking it back. “I love you.”

He looked at her helplessly. “Annabeth, I—“

“You don’t need to say anything,” Annabeth said. “I just wanted you to know.”

For a few seconds, Percy just looked at her with a searching gaze, and then his lips curled upwards in the ghost of a smile. “You sure have a knack for timing, I’ll give you that,” he quipped.

Despite the circumstances, Annabeth couldn’t help laughing. It was still too early to say, but, for now, it looked like maybe they would be okay. She wanted to apologize, but she knew that now wasn’t the right time for that. All that mattered now was Percy and Sally.

“How’re you holding up?” she asked him.

Percy set his mouth into a hard line and said, “As well as a son watching his mother slowly die of cancer does.”

Annabeth winced. “That was a bad question,” she said.

“It was,” Percy said, nodding. “But yeah, things are difficult. It’s not looking good, but mom’s strong. Always has been. All I can do is be there for her and try my best to help.”

“Well, I’ll be here with you from now on, so you won’t have to go through this alone,” Annabeth said.

Percy didn’t look at her, but he did take her hand in his and give it a gentle squeeze of gratitude, and, for Annabeth, that was enough.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this isn't as sloppy as it feels to me, but i'm stumped on how to make it better. i ran out of ideas for the ending, so it feels abrupt. idk hopefully you all enjoy it. one more chapter to go or maybe two, not sure yet! 
> 
> i'm a little overwhelmed with the response the story has gotten with the last two chapters. i wasn't sure how it would go over since there was a drastic tone shift, but i'm a little tired of only writing smut because that's not why i enjoy writing? i like writing smut sure, but that's not what my focus is when i write. i like emotional attachment and stuff and getting sucked into the characters and how i feel, so i reverted to that and stuff. like i said, i was a little nervous, but overwhelmingly, people seem to like it, so that's a relief. 
> 
> if you'd show your support by dropping a comment, i would really appreciate it! 
> 
> ps: carry over from last week, but i have a one shot out called "at the end of the ocean" and i'd be grateful if you took some time to read it and comment!


	10. Coda

Annabeth stood beside Percy as he shook hands with the funeral goers, a tight smile on his face as they offered their condolences. She felt awful for him. After losing his mother, this was the last thing that he needed. Paul was on Percy’s other side, and he looked tired too. Percy looked shattered in the moments that he felt no one was watching him. A shadow would pass over his face and Annabeth would feel the urge to give him a hug or something, but then just as quickly as that vulnerability had appeared it would disappear when another person came up to him to shake his hand. 

It took a few hours for it to be all over and during that entire time, Annabeth didn’t think that Percy’d so much as looked at Sally’s grave. Now that everyone was gone, however, Percy stood in front of his mother’s grave and looked on stony-faced as tears slid quietly down his face. Annabeth didn’t know what to do so she gave him his space, but something compelled her to go to him. She didn’t say anything, but she just stood there next to him to offer him some quiet companionship. During their time rooming together, she’d gotten a good feel for when Percy wanted to be alone and when he didn’t but couldn’t say otherwise, and it seemed like he wanted her near then. 

“Where’s Paul?” Percy asked, his voice unnaturally steady. 

“Paul’s gone to check on the parking meter,” Annabeth whispered. 

He nodded but didn’t say anything else. “You know, when I was a kid, I was a real handful. I got kicked out of so many schools that I’ve lost count. It was hard for me having ADHD and dyslexia to sit there like a model student in school. She never got angry with me though, you know? She’d just look sad and that was worse, but she never made me feel less than, even when the entire world said otherwise,” he said. 

“She was an amazing person,” Annabeth agreed, but she hated how shallow that sounded. She hadn’t known Sally Jackson for long, but even in the little time she had known her, Annabeth felt like she was an extraordinary person. 

“It’s just not fucking fair,” Percy said, his voice quivering. “Why’d it have to be her?” 

“I don’t know,” Annabeth said. “It doesn’t make sense.” 

Percy looked up at the sky. “It’s so blue,” he murmured. 

“Yeah.”

“It’s making me angry. Why is it such a beautiful day outside? Why isn’t it raining?”

Annabeth gave him a sidelong glance. “I don’t think Sally would’ve wanted it to be anything less than beautiful outside today. Don’t you think?” she said. 

Percy pursed his lips and said, “Yeah, yeah I guess you’re right.” 

He started to walk back towards the parking lot, and Annabeth walked with him. There was almost a minute of silence when Percy suddenly spoke. “Did you mean it? Back in the hospital did you mean it?” he asked. 

“Mean what? When I said I loved you?” Annabeth asked, looking at him. 

Percy turned to look at her and there was a searing intensity to his gaze that felt almost physical. “Yeah, did you mean it or were you just saying it?” he asked. 

“I meant it,” Annabeth said instantly. She meant it more than she’d ever meant anything she’d ever said before. 

“Do you know why I asked you how you felt that day?” he asked. 

When she stood there quietly, he said, “It was because I needed to know if you loved me back.”

It felt like all the air in her lungs had been ripped out. “What?” she asked. “Then why’d you say you didn’t want to room with me anymore?” 

“Because I couldn’t handle it anymore, Annabeth. I couldn’t pretend anymore like I didn’t feel something for you, and I didn’t want for you to have to deal with that too. If you’d just been fucking honest with me then we could’ve avoided all this shit,” Percy said. 

Her old defensive instincts reared up with a nasty retort, but she had to surrender and realize that he was right. She’d been too terrified to let him in so she’d preemptively rejected him. It’d made sense at the time, but now that she thought about it, her line of thought made no sense whatsoever, even to herself. It was ironic that she prided herself for her logic and that it was ultimately her being illogical that ruined what she had with Percy. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Annabeth sighed. 

Percy looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Wow, Annabeth Chase just admitted I was right for once. Can I get that in writing?” 

Annabeth met his eye and said, “Depends. Are you willing to sign a new roommate agreement?” 

He looked at her with surprise, and Annabeth could feel her heart hammering in her chest. If he was going to say no, now would be the time. She’d given him more than enough reason to, so she couldn’t blame him if he did refuse. Instead, a small, genuine smile graced his lips. 

“I can think of a few more amendments, but yeah, sure,” he said. 

It was a little silly how giddy Annabeth felt when she heard him say that. “We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” Percy said. “Yes, we are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn't good at all, but i don't want to keep everyone waiting anymore. i still think it is a decent conclusion, but obviously i wanted it to be a lot better but i couldn't figure anything out for like the past few months so here it is. thank you all for the great response this has gotten, and i'd appreciate it if you could let me know your thoughts, one last time. i'm glad everyone's enjoyed the fic and been along for the ride this far. i've had a lot of fun with it, and i hope you all felt the same. 
> 
> thank you

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr! My username is knuffled, and there are headcanons and fics galore.


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